We had been thinking of getting a sewing machine for awhile because our old sewing machine (our great grandma's) was starting to not work (surprise!). Daddy saw our need and saved up for some months to get this for us! What a wonderful daddy!

I can't wait to use it! Sewing is so much fun (when everything works!)! I"m planning on making jumpers, skirts, sachets and more!

"Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband."

1 Corinthians 7:3

Here are the pictures I got of mommy & daddy on their date night! Aren't they such beautiful (mommy) and handsome (daddy) parents?!!! :)

If you're wondering what that little green thing is to the right of daddy's massive shoulder that is

Josiah who got in the picture - sadly. It's still a good picture though!

I like this picture. It's mommy looking up to daddy as the leader of our home!

A close-up for better reference.

I picked out mommy's clothes and jewelry! She was going to wear some ol' baggy pants and shirt but I insisted that she dress up for daddy since this was their date night and one that doesn't come often! I picked out daddy's shirt because I like the "cowboy look" on him! (I didn't add the hat but daddy got that himself! He's had that hat for YEARS - like before Hannah)

Aren't I blessed to have such wonderful, Christian parents!? Jesus is so good!

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24

Last night Ms. Miller, Ashlee & Samantha came over to watch us as daddy and mommy went on a date. They brought 90 something chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a and some fries. We made the macaroni and cheese, greenbeans and buttermilk rolls. We had a wonderful time!

And about the verse: the Millers are one of our favorite friends. They are like family to us! They're always willing to watch us for free! Jesus shines brightly through them!

Ms. Miller with sleepy Lydia.

Most everybody watching Hercules.

The icecream (homemade) cake that we made for Ashlee's 16th birthday (she turns 16 on Saturday!).

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Take that verse and think "Test me, O eggplant, and try me..." Go down 3 pictures and you'll figure out why...................................

Just thought I should add some cute pictures of Lydia while I'm here.

Hannah took these this morning.

A new outfit from Ms. Lee!

Now for the eggplant....

Mommy had bought eggplant for us to try and she had got a recipe for "eggplant pizza" from one of daddy's customers. Trying to give us some variety we made it. See below picture....for the finished product.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT. Looks a little tasty.

Lexi cutting up her eggplant piece. Sometimes things just look (or taste) so bad that you can't help but upturn your nose! :) I do it lots - even when I don't mean too (something for me to work on...)! (On a side note: sorry for the bad lighting! Working on my camera lighting!)

Hannah trying with cheeks inflated. (She wasn't convinced it was going to be good)

Watch the video and see how we liked it!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - it wasn't a seller none to say. We reheated some leftovers and ate some drop biscuits (sweet biscuits with chocolate chips/sprinkles) I had made yesterday to replace the eggplant. Mommy was really nice about us not liking it (she said we were lucky she didn't like it - we are VERY LUCKY she didn't like it or we might be having it every other day at least!). Got a little frustrated, but that is understandable knowing we just "wasted" eggplant and a little pizza sauce! She recovered quickly though!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

"Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble."

Proverbs 25:19

This morning daddy's tooth was feeling better (maybe a result of prayers....) but we (daddy and I) went to the dentist. He was about 5-10 minutes away. We got there and they asked questions on a clipboard like who is your pediatrician? when did you last visit the dentist? etc. all involving health care pretty much. Those who know us know that we don't really do doctors and dentists (feel free to ask my parents why - they'd love to explain!). We went in the room and a dental lady asked some questions and then the head dentist came in - Dr. David Townsend (he is the brother to our neighbors). He examined and poked around the tooth and it didn't hurt daddy (prayers work...). Then he said he would need an x-ray to examine and diagnose the problem. Daddy rejected having a x-ray due to radiation. The dentist said "Well, you get more radiation walking from here to your car then getting an x-ray." Daddy answered "Well, the radiation (from the sun) is not concentrated in one spot (radiation stays in your body forever)."

End result: we didn't get the tooth "fixed" because we didn't get an x-ray.

Prayers I believe work - thanks for helping us save a few hundred dollars! Jesus is good!

I'll continue to update on his tooth...

On a darker note: our van is not doing too well. It has some sort of electrical problem, they are thinking, because of different things. That means close to thousands of dollars before we can find the problem. Any prayers offered up would be wonderful!!!

Adonai's daughter,

Kimber

P.S - Please don't get us wrong about the dentist/doctor thing. We're not against them - they are there for a purpose and have saved many lives (doctors). Please ask questions if you have any! We're not against them.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink."

Daniel 1:12

(applies to corn....)

This is Lydia after we came home from being "towed." She was so tired!

Lexi and our FIRST CORN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy about to eat our first corn cob.

Josiah eating some corn (not ours).

Here is Alexis peeling our first corn!!!!! :)

I finally found some time to post! Everyone but mamma, Lydia and I are up in northern VA getting some work done. I got to stay home and help with Lydia! It's really quiet now - weird! It's almost like I have MORE work to do when my siblings are gone than when they are here! Complicated!

"That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast."

Exodus 12:8

This verse applies to picture #2. It's a little difficult to find verses that match with 3 different subjects!

While Hannah, Daddy and I were picking up meat in Marshall, VA (see picture below) the rest of the family made the above pie. Oops, cheescake. It's title is Chocolate Dried Plum Cheescake. It sounds kinda' weird but it had a neat flavor. You couldn't really taste the plums but every now and then you would get a sour-sweet flavor (plums). IT was REALLY rich so I could hardly eat my tiny piece! It looks so pretty!

This is all the meat we picked up. 6 good-size boxes (box in picture too) of meat. We had 8 altogether but we dropped 2 boxes off to some friends. We got half a cow. So that means we have steaks, hamburgers and more!

Miss Lydia, in the car, on the way somewhere!

Lydia resting on her mamma. I don't have many pictures of Lydia and mommy - so here's one!

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."

James 1:2 - 3

Monday morning we headed back to Westmoreland Berry Farm to do some more picking. We were hoping to get some raspberries or pie cherries. Once we got there the only fruit they had that was pick-your-own was blackberries, which we didn't want. So, we just bought some peaches, nectarines and blueberries again. Some of us were glad we didn't have to do any picking in the 90-100 degree weather (plus lots of humidity). Then we went to fill up on gas in Tappahanock at a Sheetz gas station. We were reading books and waiting to get back home when the van (daddy left it running while filling up so we could have some air conditioning in the humid car) started to "rumble" and sort of shake so mommy turned it off. Once daddy got back in (with a full tank of gas) he tried to start it but it would only start for 2 seconds and then turn off. He tried this many times and eventually most of us went inside the gas station because it was so hot. Caleb and I stayed in the car (I had a good book to read!). A very nice person came over and tried to help us - it worked once and we went around the gas pumps but then it stopped and wouldn't go further. Eventually we called a tow truck and the van got towed to our auto-mechanic (Andy's Automotive and Transmission) and we went home.

The tow guys and daddy.

All us hot and sweaty children with mamma. Lydia was such a good little girl!

View from the back as the van is getting pulled up.

Josiah was enthralled with the big truck and just kept his mouth open most of the time - eyes wide with wonder. He made a friend with the driver. Josiah stood up on me (don't worry about us being illegal - the driver said that when you're in an emergency situation - which we were - you can ride with him in the truck without seatbelts (of course if you can use seatbelts you should but with 10 extra people and 4 seatbelts let's just say that didn't work)) and kept touching the drivers hat. Thankfully we had a nice, easy-going driver!

Daddy and mommy were thankful that we didn't have to have any more adventures and got home safely but I wanted to have more "adventure" and maybe stay at a motel and get some friends/family to pick us up! Well, Jesus' ways are always best!

Adonai's daughter,

Kimber

P.S - Our van is NOT a new car (1999 to be exact). We (well the nice guy that helped us) said that the problem with it not starting was the fuel had "trash" and stuff at the bottom and just kept getting clogged.